Utah without question!!!!!! They have the opportunity of making tons of money,
recruiting national caliber talent on a continuous basis and are in a phenomenal
BCS conference. BYU, on the other hand, is in a precarious spot. Sure they are
"independent," but that only makes their road to success more
difficult. The football team has to go undefeated, which will never
happen, just to be considered for a BCS bowl bid. And, it is very apparent that
they cannot recruit great, "speedy" athletes from the black community.
Therefore, they will never succeed on a national basis. Additionally, who is to
say that ESPN will renew their contract in the future......half of their games
are against 2nd class programs........so who wants to watch that garbage when
there is a great SEC match-up on another channel? And yes........BYU's fan base
speaks for itself......no need to comment on those people.

1)...But the biggest keys to "on field" success are internal, not
external. Which program has the better coaching staff and talent in place, or on
the way? Again, I give the edge to Utah....

2)...I also expect Utah
to reap the benefits of Pac-12 membership in recruiting, allowing the program --
which already recruited heavily in California -- to attract higher-caliber
prospects in the highly fertile state...

BYU's goal is
exposure to help football and church recruiting. They will appear on ESPN
several times regardless of if they have a 10-2 season or another 7-6 season.

Utah's goal is play "at the next level" of college sports. A
challenge? Definitely.

If "BCS" is the success criteria
(and it shouldn't be), the edge is Utah. They may have a mediocre season and a
New Mexico Bowl bid, but they still receive a share of BCS dollars. ESPN had a
nice article on why going independent made it more difficult for BYU to earn a
BCS bid. But again, their goal is exposure, not fighting the BCS.

The ONLY thing that Notre Dame and BYU have in common is the arrogance of the
fans and the unrealistic expectations. I'm sick of hearing from Notre Dame fans
that this is the year and BYU fans are all about ifs. If we go undefeated, if we
beat Utah, if if if. These two teams regularly compete for the pre-season
national championship.

Being lumped in with Notre Dame, Auburn, Ohio State, Georgia, and West Virginia
as "CFB Fan Bases with Unrealistic Expectations" is pretty good
company and shows the kind of national media attention BYU is drawing with its
move to independence.

----------------

Mandel writes,
"Both programs are substantially better off than they were June
30."

In other words, regardless of how BYU's move to
independence compares to Utah's move to the PAC 12, bottom line is BYU is
SUBSTANTIALLY better off than the Cougars would have been if they'd stayed in
the MWC -- much more revenue, much better television coverage, and substantially
better opportunities to play several teams like Texas, Notre Dame, and Georgia
Tech every season.

The main difference is, which we have known for over a year now is the bowl
games and money. This upcoming year the Y could go 10-2, have a great opening
Independent season, and they will go to the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl or whatever
it is. The UTES could go 9-3, with one of those losses to the Y, and still play
for the Rose Bowl. Even if the Y goes 11-1, or 7-5, it is still the same bowl,
and the same situation. In a few years if bYu keeps winning, & they get out
of their bowl contracts, better & more lucritive bowls may come calling.
Especially with ESPN behind them. If & when that happens, the money, bowl
games, conference affiliation, etc, the edge will still go to Utah, but bYu will
still be in a much better situation than they were in the MWC. As bad as it
would be to lose to bYu this year, if we won the Pac 12 South, & the conf
championship game & made it to the Rose Bowl, that would take a lot of the
sting away.

NOBODY exceeds the arrogance we've heard from Utah fans
since last June. To hear them talk, you'd think they'd won the last 10 national
championships instead of a couple of relatively meaningless BCS bowls.

Utah got a great job at a great company with a great paycheck but they have a
boss.

BYU started their own company. They are assuming much greater
risk, will work longer hours - especially earlier on, and they may fail. The
upside is that they are the boss, they get to do what they want, and they have
greater potential.

I work for myself and I wouldn't change a thing.
We will see how it works out for BYU.

@ chicagoborn Very well stated sir. The difference is that Notre Dame is the
most popular team in the country and have probably the greatest history of
success and tradition in college football. BYU is only an aberration in the
national scene. Although they boast about a myriad of things claiming they are
viable.........it really falls upon deaf ears. BYU has never played in a big
bowl game yet and have an atrocious bowl record at that. They had two decent
decades in their history and that was over 20 years ago. They went indy because
they were dissed and the school up north was rewarded with a precious PAC-12
invite. Notre Dame this year could be pretty darn good........may see them in a
BCS bowl????? Who knows?

Kind of like the arrogance & garbage we have heard the
last 25 years about BYU being a "storied' program? I know you live in
Mayberry, but let me tell you a little secret. Outside of Utah (unless your
LDS), nobody really cares about BYU or Utah.

Utah is in a better position for the long-term. No doubt about that. And this
is from a Y alum and fan.

@clowntown,

Interesting how you
say you're a USC football fan and not a fan of Utah's but here you are defending
Utah against pro-Y posters. In my observations of your usual posts, there seems
to be a bit of hypocrisy there. Like your false insinuations about the Y's APR.
If you hate the Y so much, time to just leave it alone. Stop the hate.
Embrace the love, brother.

Utah is obviously in a much better position than BYU in the long run. There is really no argument or debate, just the facts.

Utah as a
member of the PAC-12 has direct access to BCS, a HUGE TV contract deal with an
enormous pay-out (in 2014), and a set schedule with good conference opponents.
No matter how competitive the athletic programs are, these are all sure things.

Now whether they will be dominant or a floormat in the PAC-12
remains to be seen. This will determine the kind of recruits they get, and
appearances in CC and BCS games.

So the long term success is really
still in question, but Utah is sitting at a big table with a high ceiling, and a
guaranteed share in feast.